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We are thrilled to announce that Village Health Partnership will be a May 2023 Featured Grantee of Together Women Rise, a nonprofit focused on global gender equality. They will be supporting our Skill Check, Training, and Mentorship program, as well as our Basic Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (BEMONC) Training program. These education programs focus on giving nurse midwives on the front lines of healthcare in the rural areas support and a chance to improve their existing clinical skills. “Together Women Rise is a is a powerful community of women and allies dedicated to global gender equality. We have hundreds… Read More »VHP is a Together Women Rise Grant Recipient

Village Health Partnership was recently featured at the Rotary District 5450 WASH Symposium in Denver on October 8th, 2022. The Symposium focused on creating IMPACT in the global water, sanitation, and hygiene sector. IMPACT: Innovation, Multi-Sectoral, Partnerships, Assessments, Community, and Testing The impact of VHP’s diverse partnerships in Ethiopia and the United States was the topic of a panel discussion. We were joined by People 2 People, a nonprofit that supports orphans around the world, in discussing key elements to successful partnerships. View the PowerPoint presentation, as well as a summary of presentation highlights, below. Presentation highlights VHP builds deep… Read More »Rotary WASH Symposium

Nurse-midwives are the frontline of obstetric and neonatal care in rural Ethiopia. When trained well, nurse-midwives are able to provide pre- and post-natal care and skilled assistance at the time of delivery, ensuring a healthy outcome for mothers and babies. When no nurse-midwives are present, or those present do not possess the necessary skills, women and neonates suffer and face a greater risk of dying before, during, and after childbirth. In short, well-trained nurse-midwives save lives.  On our last trip to Ethiopia, a woman lost her baby at the Maji District Hospital because the nurse-midwives did not have the skills… Read More »Supporting Nurse-Midwives

Giving birth is a miracle. Each and every time a baby presents to the world and takes his or her first breath, it is a guarantee that life goes on. Parents and family members rejoice and make plans for their future with their newest member. But not every baby takes a breath. The World Health Organization (WHO), estimates 1 million newborns die every year from birth asphyxia, the inability to breathe at birth. Without intervention, the baby will die, becoming only a sad memory. Approximately 10% of newborns will need help to breathe. I am working with Village Health Partnership to… Read More »Giving Birth is a Miracle

The Mizan Tepi University Teaching Hospital (MTUTH) plays a critical role in the health system of Southwestern Ethiopia. The hospital’s rural catchment area extends into both the Bench Sheko Zone and West Omo Zone along the Sudan border. The facility serves more than 1.8 million people with one obstetrician, two emergency surgeons, and more than fifteen nurse-midwives. Women travel for miles to reach the hospital in hopes of a safer delivery there than they would have at home. We are working in collaboration with the MTUTH and Margo Harrison, MD, MPH from the University of Colorado, to do clinical research… Read More »Good Outcomes In Spite Of Limited Resources

Global Water 2020 is a three-year advocacy and facilitation initiative designed to accelerate progress toward water access and security for all people in developing countries. The first global baseline assessment of WASH in healthcare facilities was released by the World Health Organization and UNICEF in 2019. Data was gathered from 560,000 healthcare facilities in 125 low- and middle-income countries and the findings were devastating: 2 billion people must rely on healthcare facilities that lack basic water services 1.5 billion people must rely on healthcare facilities without sanitation facilities 45% of healthcare facilities in Least Developed Countries lack basic water services… Read More »VHP Recognized by Global Water 2020 as a Health Leader and Trailblazer

COVID-19’s multiple frontlines now include at least 46 countries across the African continent. Many, including Ethiopia, have frontline health care facilities battling without one of the most critical tools: adequate water and sanitation. In an email as truth-telling as it is disturbing, my colleague and friend, Shimeta, ordered his employees to work from home by the time his country was reporting 19 cases (the count is now ~44): “Medical facilities and structures are very weak to handle such pandemic diseases. In Africa and especially in Ethiopia, the death toll will be unheard of up until now. One of the small… Read More »Health Care Facilities Are Everyone’s Frontline

Back in 2016, VHP – along with our amazing partners – completed an assessment of 14 health facilities in rural Ethiopia. The findings were eye-opening. All facilities lacked year-round access to clean water, most facilities had stick and mud latrines,  most instruments lacked proper sterilization, all facilities lacked working hand washing stations, and many lacked critical medical supplies. These health facilities became deadly for patients and providers alike. We could no longer ignore the connection between WASH and maternal health. Access to clean water and sanitation is absolutely essential to providing safe healthcare. These findings led to the creation of… Read More »Bachuma Hospital Well Update

The Bachuma hospital’s construction was completed roughly three years ago, however, it has yet to open due to an inadequate water supply. Due to this shortage, the hospital is unable to provide comprehensive care to the surrounding communities. VHP is committed to raising funds to construct a well and assisting in the installation. Challenge The Bachuma hospital, located in the Bench Maji Zone in South Western Ethiopia, serves Bachuma, the surrounding communities, and local villages. Its construction was completed roughly three years ago, however, it has yet to open due to an inadequate water supply. While complete services cannot be… Read More »Help Us Build a Well at Bachuma Hospital

Our hospital in southwest Ethiopia serves an area of 2.5 million people —from farming villages and tribal areas to refugees from South Sudan. Health care activities here are below standard by any measure and we face what sometimes feel like insurmountable challenges to curb these problems. But the single biggest challenge of all is water. In our hospital, because we only have clean tap water available approximately twice per week when water is trucked in, we must supplement with river water, which we know is unclean. But a hospital needs water daily and for many purposes: not only drinking but… Read More »We Run a Large Hospital Without Water